Rise in Ferry Fares Is Headed Off by a Competing Company

A midstream switch of ferry operators will head off a sharp rise in fares next week for some Hudson River commuters and leave most of them paying less next month, ferry company executives said yesterday.

The reversal came just a few days after one company, New York Water Taxi, said it would raise the cost of a ride between the Wall Street area and the Jersey City waterfront to $9 from $6.

Water Taxi officials attributed the need for the steep increase, in part, to an “onerous” contract with a company it would not name.

That company was Goldman Sachs, the big investment bank. For two years, Goldman has allowed Water Taxi’s boats to use a dock near the firm’s office tower in the Paulus Hook section of Jersey City. In exchange, Goldman employees can ride between there and Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan at no charge between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Water Taxi said this week that it had lost $1.2 million on the route, in part because of the cost of carrying the nonpaying riders, and announced that on Sept. 25, the one-way fare would rise by 50 percent and the cost of a monthly pass would jump 67 percent.

But yesterday, that plan was scuttled as a competing ferry service came forward. Billybey Ferry, which operates commuter boats on the river, said it would take over the route, which serves about 2,000 passengers a day, starting Oct. 2 and lower the fare between Paulus Hook and Pier 11 to $5.50.

Until then, that fare will remain at $6, Water Taxi said.

Still, some commuters will pay more.

The Billybey boats that stop at Goldman’s dock will begin their morning trips and end their evening trips at Liberty Harbor, another dock in Jersey City. The one-way fare for those passengers — about 850 a day — will rise on Oct. 2 to $5.50 from $4.75, said Paul S. Goodman, the chief executive of Billybey.

Mr. Goodman said he expected the route to be profitable at $5.50 a ticket but added that it “does not make our ferry business profitable.” He said the commuter ferry business suffers from structural problems that require and deserve subsidies from government agencies.

Goldman employees will continue to ride free between rush times. A Goldman spokesman, Peter Rose, said, “We are delighted to resolve our differences so that ferry service continues at reasonable rates.”